December 8, 2017 — Darwin’s Natural Pet Products of Tukwila, Washington, has notified distributors that it is recalling select lots of its Darwin’s Natural Selections dog food due to possible contamination with Salmonella bacteria.

What’s Recalled?The product was shipped to distributors between September and early October 2017.The affected product includes the following:Natural Selections Turkey Meals for DogsNet wt 2 lbsLot #39937Manufacture date 08/24/17

Why Is It Recalled?Through testing, the company determined that the products listed above, have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

About SalmonellaSalmonella is a bacterial organism that can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening infections in people, particularly young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.There is risk to humans from handling contaminated products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the product or any surfaces exposed to these products.Some healthy individuals who are infected may experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.In rare circumstances, infections can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe or chronic illness.According to the FDA, it is uncommon for healthy dogs to become sick from Salmonella.However, dogs with weakened immune systems (such as puppies or older dogs) have a higher risk of becoming sick.Pets with infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.Further information about Salmonella can be found on the Food and Drug Administration website.

Message from the CompanyIn an email message to distributors, Darwin’s president, Gary Tashjian writes…We have not received any reports from customers regarding these meals, and are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution.However, if your pet has consumed the recalled product and has any of the above symptoms, please contact your veterinarian if they persist.We are recommending that you inspect your inventory of Darwin’s meals to determine if you have any left from the lot listed above.If any of the above product is still in your inventory, please take the following steps:Write down the lot number, date/time of manufacture and quantity of any product from the above lot remaining in your inventory.Dispose of the product by placing it in a plastic bag, then placing the bag in the trash in a secure manner.

Contact us at productsafety@darwinspet.com to confirm that you have taken the above steps and to arrange for replacement of any unused product. Please note the following:Your name and address (or customer number)The date and time of manufacture and quantity of food from this lot that you have remaining in your inventoryConfirmation that you have disposed of it.We anticipate that some of our customers will have questions or concerns regarding this matter.We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about it.Toward that end, we have set up a special toll-free number for you to call: 866-832-8319 (Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 6 PM and Saturday 7 AM to 3 PM Pacific Time).Please note that we may not be able to talk with each of you at once, so we do ask that you be patient, particularly if your issue is not of an urgent nature.We regret any concern and/or inconvenience that this causes you.We are taking steps to reduce the opportunity for this to occur again.

What to DoU.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.

Pet parent of Emo the border collie mix, Conte the schnoodle and Namira the harlequin cat!